Openwork attachment for knitting-machines.



H; H. WEST. OPENWORK ATTACHMENT FOR KNITTING MACHINES.

. APPLICATION FILED 001'. 2B, 1909. 999,974, Patented July 25, 1911.

2 BHEET8BKEET l.

H. H. WEST. OPENWOBK AT'ITAOHHENT FOB KNITTING MACHINES. Drummer 1mm) our. 2a, 1909.

anemia -ils is.

HAEEY WEST, 631 PLYMQUTH, PEHNSYLVfiNIA. .ZiSSIGNOB TD THOMAE ELYHFQUTH, ylfiNlbl'fiYLvlifllAh WEST, (8F

CPENWQEK IiTTECHESEIZ'T "E018, KE HTTKBTG MAGHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented July $5, 12211.

eliiplicetion filed 'Dcto'bei: $8, 3.9%. erm; 3T0. 525,106.

To all wlzom ii: may o lace n:

Be it known that ll, HARRY H. EST, a citizen of the United St tes, residing at Plymouth, the county of Luzerne and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Qpenwork A taclirnents for Knittinglviacbines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of she invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertsins to make and use the same.

This invention relates to on improved at tacbment for lmicting machines for making open-work fabric which is particularly plicsble to that class of machines known as circular knitting machines such as are nsel for knitting hosiery. D

The principal object of the invention is to provide l1 simple and efiicient device so constructed and operated to change the stitch from a regular knitting mesh to an open work mesh atpredetermined intervals to form any desired open or lace Work patternin the fabric in coninnciion with the regular knit work, "without removing tile fabric from the machine, and without removing any of the needles. i

Viith. ibis and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction,combination and arrangement of parts, s will be more fully do scribed and particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

in the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 represents a top p an View of a ortion of the knitting head with parts bro on out to show the construction of the sinker operating com and the relative arrangement of the sinkers operated by the toothed wlaelfFig. 2 is a detail side elevation showing this improved attachment applied; Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View anon on the line 33 of Fig. jig-Fig. 4 is a detail plan View of the toothed sinker operating wheel; Fig. 5 is n diagrammatic plan View on an enlarged scale of a portion of the knitting heed, showing the position ofthe needles and sinkers' as they appear in Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a front elevation looking in the direction of the so row shown in Fig. 5 and showing the formstion of the elongated loops produced by the wheel projected sinkers; Fig. 7 is a similar View with the sinkersand needles slightly ad ance-d over the position shown in Fig. 6'

and clearly showing the elongated i-loo formed by bl'lQ sinker actuated by the plumlated tootli; and Fig. 8 is a fragmentary I'iew of piece of fabric showing the stitches formed by this-improved attachment.

In the embodiment illustrated, only so much of a knitting machine has been shown as is deemed necessary to properly show the application of this attachment, the knitting heed herein shown bein similar to that shown in Fig. 13'" of the stent No. 538,518 to Houseman, dated April 30, 1895. needle cylinder is of the ordinary type and isprovided on its outer face with longitudinally disposed slots 6 in which the needles 0 are adapted to reciprocate by means of the usual some which engage the butts c of the needles. The sinker bed y is rigidly secured to n stationary bedplste 79 havingan snnnlsr shoulder Z on its up or face on which n cum ring m is'revolublg mounted. This sinker bed j is provided on its lower face with a plurality of radially disposed slots, asd, into which lit and. slide sinker bars or web holders 6 having web holding fingers a. An annular gear n is revolubly mounted in a bed or supporfiingspalate 0 and the teeth thereof are designed to. e engaged by the main operating wheelof the ma chine, not shown; An annular gear retainlog piste g; overlapstlie upper edgeof the-5 gear n and is secured in position by an suitable means, preferably by screws cam cylinder or head f is fixed to the gear 92 and carries the cams f which operate the needles. A bracket such as is shown in Fig. 2 of the HouseinenPat/ens No. 538,518, of April 30, 1895, is also secured to the gear wheel n and projects upwardly between two spaced laterally extending in s, also shown in said patent, which are line to the sinker operating cam ring m by means of which the cam ring is revolved with the gear wheel as. The cam scurried on the upper faco'of the'ring m is preferably constructed 1' similar to that shown in the stent above referred to, havin a recess 9 or a. purpose to be described. bracket in is also secured to the revolving annular. gear Wheel 4 and a tread guide shown in dotted lines in Fi 3, 105 is carried by this bracket, it being obvious that the bracket may be cban ed to accommodate difierent forms of'sin'er operating wheels now to be described.

A; freely revoluble horizontally disposed 11 The toothed wheel 1 is secured to the annular gear wheel a to rotate therewith by any suitable supportirg means arranged to hold the wheel in position to revolve in a horizontal plane with its teeth in the path of the rear ends or tails of the sinkers e which are exposed between the lower face of the sinker bed and the upper face of the cam ring, said sinker ends being designed to mesh with the teeth of the wheel, whereby said wheel is revolved.

The wheel supporting means herein shown comprises a bracket arnri extending laterally from the yarn guide supporting bracket 'u. and from which an upright post or standard 6 extends, beingspaced laterally a suitable distance fromthe outer faces of the can] cylinder to hold the wheel in operative position. A laterally extending arm 7 is 'pivotally mounted at one end on the upper end of the post 6 and is held in operative position by any suitable means. A coil spring 8 is preferably Wound around said post 6 and one end thereof is preferably secured to the arm 5 in any suitable manner and the other upper end is engaged with the arm 7 to hold said arm yieldably in operative position relatively to the sinkers, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

The toothcdwheell is preferably providcdwith a stub shaft 2 extending laterally therefrom and it is looselyand removably mounted in an aperture in the free end o (llO arm 7, whereby the wheel may be re- )lvcd in a horizontal plane with the teeth thereof arranged in position to receive the tails or rear ends of the sinkers 6 between them and by means of which said wheel is revolved by the rotation of the gear wheel a. The cam s on the upper face of the sinker operating cam ring is .Iecessedas shown at 9 at a point opposite'thewheel 1 and said recess is of sufficient length to pcrmil the inward movement ofthe sinkers when engaged by a mutilated toth of said wheel and by the sides of adjacent teeth at one side of the mutilated tooth, otherwise. the sinlicrs would be held against movement when so engaged. This wheel 1 may be any desired size and provided with any" number of teeth and one or more of these teeth is enlarged and mutilated or notched as shown at and engaged with the outer end of a sinker, whereby the sinker is moved inwardly and its inner end projected a predetermined. distance to engage the yarn being t'cd bef re the needle is moved down wardly, whereby said yarn is caused to exicud across the upper edge of the web holding finger e ofsaid projected sinker, said yarn being thereby held a predetermined time to form an opening or gap in the fabric being knit. These mutilated teeth 3 are each of a width corresponding to the width of two of 'the other teeth and each in. alincment with the other sinkers.

has a notch 4 in its free erd in position corresponding to the space 5 between the other teeth to engage the rear end of the sinker to be moved forward.

It will be obvious that whecl=-z of any desired size may be employed and these wheels may be provided with any desired number of mutilated teeth suitably arranged to produce the desired open-work pattn'n. It will also be obvious that the depth 0 the notch in the teeth may be varied to p ovidc for the formation of loops of different length, thereby varying the size of the openings in the fabric. 7

It is well known that in the knitting of the ordinary mesh the needle takes the thread before the sinker moves fol-w: rd and to produce open-work or lace mesh the sinkers actuated by a "mutilated tooth of wheel 1 and by the sides of the adjacent teeth move forward before the needle is drawn down, whereby the stitches so formed will loop over the sinkers so projected and thus form gaps in the fabric.

"When the annular gear a is rotated by the driving mechanism, not shown, the tails or rear ends of the radially disposed sinkers e engage the teeth of the wheel 1 carried by said gear and revolve it, and the recessed portion 9 of-the cam 8 being opposite said wheel 1 permits the sinkers 10, 11 and 12, engaged respectively by the side 3 and by the end 4 of the mutilated tooth 3, and sinker 12 engaged by the side of the tooth 3* arranged at one side of said mutilated tooth, to move freely inward into the position shown in Fig. l and to remain in this position until the cam s is turned sutliciently to cause the inclined rear edge 8 thereof to engage the walls of. the recesses s in said sinkers and move them into normal position As shown in Fig. 1, the sinker 1O engaged the mutilated tooth 3 will be projected considerably in advance of the sinkcrs 11 and I 12, whereby the yarn A drawn down by the needle 13 transversely across the upper edge of the web holding finger of said sinker 10 will be positively held in this position a predetermined time. In Fig. 6 the sinker 10, which forms the long loop 00 in the fabric illustrated in Fig. 8, is shown moved inwardly into the position which it assumes when projected by the engagement of its rcar'end with the notched end of the mini lated tooth 3. In this position the free end of the linger of the sinker 10 extends well beyond the inner faces ofithe needles ready to receive the yarn A across its upper edge.

The sinker 11 adjacent to sinker 1.0 is shown the act of.sliding off said linger under the drawing down action of the needle B just edge of S iooih 3 and it remains ll Lech in tion to i'eccn'e the yarn .501- an in;

owing to the fact that the recess a in lower edge/is arranged over the uiu'rco portion 9 of {he cum 8 and hence the sinker is not sii'eet ed by the cum. Th continued movement of the gear 21 and ihc com cylinder carried thereby causes the needle, as C, to draw the thread A. down over the siiiliei' 10, as shown in Fig. 7, mid ther j form the loop'a: in the fabric. ,sllllllllfll'tfiflllsly ihe thread A. passes (WEE ihe end the linger oi he sinker 1-2 which has been projected by the of the tooth 3 into this position, shown in Figs. 1 and F. The finger of this sink-oi is projected l you; the inner 01 i needles e SLllC'lQllidis'iiance only to cause its upper to the yarn on instant and he yarn slips said finger Oil the downward movementof the needle,v as D, whereby the loop y shown. in Fig. 8 is produced.

is above pointed oi toothed Wheel l and ie number and eri'engeineu of the modeled teeth carried ther by may be vmied indefinitely to produce difiei'enl potter in the izioi'ic being l1-- Any number different sized Wheels 1 may supplied, which are readily miterchiingezihle, the Si'llu shall.- 2 of all being of the size of the the to fit the aperture in 7. 1:" a. l used, having a. plurality of teeth, souces oi? recesses between which iiicludi e notch in the mutilated teeth, divide i into number sinker.

used, the open-work meshes in the fabric duced che mutilated teeth will be form in vertical aliiiemeiit as is shown i f the (llffWlHgS. For instance, if 5; one hundred. and sew s be in opei'uiion and sinker eel 1 having "teen teeih, be

xii filmed, "then it will he clearly seer; ihai every six ieenth sinker will be actual-ed and the loop foi'ii'ied thereby will produce an opening or gap in the fabric, and there will formed ha v1 eleven vei'iicelly disposed rows of peuworlc (hi ii oni'i'ai'y, if 2 Wheel should be used lievir .1 number of which will not di wide equally into the number of sinkers used, say seventeen, the open-Work stitch guy will he i'oi: icd each course one stitch i2, so: mince of the "'-'ceding gap and thereby pm- '11 ducing obliquely arts ged rows of luceworh in ihe sic.

engagement of its end ivilh the side' vious that the rotation of the gear 7'. will cause the toothed Wheel 1, which is carried thereby, to revolve in the free end of the 10 by reason of ihe engagement of its teeth with the rear ends or pails of the sinkers, and this turning of the wheel 1 causes the mutilated. tooth 3 and ihe tooth 3 to engage the sinliers l0, l3. and 12 and move them inwardly into the position shown in Fig. 1, and when so actuated, said sinkers engage the thread before the needles B, C and l) are drawn down and hold it out of the path of the needles, whereby the stitches engaged by said SlDkQlS are formed into lengthened loops, more yarn beingdi'awn cue by, this projeclioii oi the siukers than is utilized for the ordinal loops produced by the other sinkcirs, thereby I producing the effect of opeii or lace Work in the fabric,

by the sinkers 10 and 11. 1t is also to be observed that should the Wheel I fail to pro" duce the desired pattern it is only necessary '5 swing the arm 7 outward to disenga 'c the teeth of the Wheel from the sinkers, when sold Wheel may be turned to bring the muiiloied teeth hereof iii'to desired position or the Wheel may he removed and another substituted Without stopping the machine.

l i'om Joe foregoingdescription, taken in conneciiou with the accompanying drowing's, the construction and operation of the invention will be readily understood without isequiriug a more extended explanation. Various changes in the form, proportion and uliior details of construction may reso ed lo Without departing from the principle oi'sziei'ificiiig any of the advantuges of the invention, as defined in the sppeuded claim.

I claim as my invention: In a knitting machine comprising a i" wry member, a cam cylinder secui'ed lov s oes.

in tesizimony whereof l have hereunto set hand in presence 01. two subscribing wit- G b HARRY H. WEST.

llimesses PHILIP J. Jones,

5 WEST,

with the sinkei's at yredetermined. dis- 

